Jan. 9, 2018
05:09 pm JST

Papiguilio,

You’re welcome. I do think if you actually look at all that’s involved it’s such not a ripoff. Whether customers feel it’s worth it to them to spend that much money on such an event is of course another issue (I wouldn’t myself and I know plenty who skipped the ceremonies entirely and didn’t spend a single yen on the day). It’s like weddings and funerals. You choose whether to go whole hog or not or something in between.

Anyway I hope they find the president of Harenohi soon and arrest him/her if warranted. It’s looking more and more like the owners could see this coming and have knowingly defrauded at least some of the customers who were given discounts for paying cash and have now been left in the lurch.

Jan. 9, 2018
04:48 pm JST

Well, let’s see, an outfit consisting of 20 or more expensive items of clothing/accessories that have been purchased by the shop, some of which will need to be professionally cleaned after a day of being worn in snow/rain. The salaries and supplies of one makeup artist and one hairdresser (plus facilities). Then there’s the one or two persons to put the girl in said outfit. And a fancy album and extra prints of professionally taken photos (and studio facilities). Plus all the normal costs of running a business. It’s maybe starting to look cheap for the services provided.

Thanks for educating the uneducated, educator60. That price does seem fair in hindsight.

Jan. 9, 2018
03:03 pm JST

Another point about the costs, it’s not necessarily a “one day” rental. Often (usually?) the professional photo session is done ahead of time as the day if the ceremony is too hectic. That means the young women are being dressed and hair and makeup done twice by the staff. I’ve also heard of some places that let potential customers do trial runs with kimono, hair, and makeup. I don’t know how prevalent that is though.

Jan. 9, 2018
02:17 pm JST

Jan. 9, 2018
02:16 pm JST

@Bungle - Labour and material costs. A bona fide kimono costs $$, plus there is the preparation time involved.

Material costs? They are renting them for a day, not buying them. Labor is about an hour to put them on an another hour or so to do hair and make up. How can one-day rental work out to ¥150,000? It's a blatant rip off!

Jan. 9, 2018
02:12 pm JST

Madden,

The Tellme company head and (at least one other) executive were arrested and things are in the courts. Don’t expect any quick results for victims. Even in an orderly bankruptcy procedure without arrests, it takes a long time for victims to get whatever small pittance, if any, they get.

Jan. 9, 2018
01:36 pm JST

You don't help people "wear" kimono, you help them "put on" kimono. Anyway, I feel very sorry for these young ladies (not sure why they're being called "girls" by some of the posters since they are women), and while I'm sure they are getting support, I hope they still get to have their day at some point. There are more than enough of them that got screwed here, they can have a big party with hundreds of people. Won't be quite the same, but it'll be equally, if not more, special.

Jan. 9, 2018
01:11 pm JST

This reminds me what happened with Tellmeclub travel agency which just suddenly went out of business as well, I think there were cases of customers just stranded with none of their reservations in place. Whatever happened to that anyway, I never saw any kind of update to the customers who were swindled.

Jan. 9, 2018
12:10 pm JST

“It's difficult to understand how they can justify charging ¥150,000 for a one-day rental of a kimono.”

Well, let’s see, an outfit consisting of 20 or more expensive items of clothing/accessories that have been purchased by the shop, some of which will need to be professionally cleaned after a day of being worn in snow/rain. The salaries and supplies of one makeup artist and one hairdresser (plus facilities). Then there’s the one or two persons to put the girl in said outfit. And a fancy album and extra prints of professionally taken photos (and studio facilities). Plus all the normal costs of running a business. It’s maybe starting to look cheap for the services provided.

Jan. 9, 2018
09:09 am JST

We bought a kimono for our daughter. We just felt that as she gets older she will have many opportunities to wear it as her friends get married and she will want to dress up for the wedding and reception. Cheaper than renting one each time. We have a very dependable beauty salon that has taken care of my wife and daughters every time they have had occasion to wear a kimono.

Jan. 9, 2018
08:49 am JST

Jan. 9, 2018
08:43 am JST

Jonathan Prin, “I don't understand. Do they get their kimonos on that day only ? Not wise to do so...”

Some families have furisode passed down the generations and some purchase new ones (but most probably won’t as they’ll be unlikely to have many if any other opportunities to wear them). The majority probably rent them and it would actually be foolhardy to keep it home as they would be liable to pay damages to the rental shop if they soiled or damaged the kimono and many accessories. Not to mention all the space it would take up in the home and that few would be able to get dressed in them without professional help.

Jan. 9, 2018
08:35 am JST

Some of the young women who had their furisode and were only going to the shops or hotel venues arranged by the shops to be dressed were lucky to be able to receive help from other companies or volunteers. But even for them the loss of money and stress must have been exhausting.

It’s being reported that Hare no hi had not been paying the rent for shops or employee salaries.

It also should be noted that because the trend is to reserve up to two years before in order to be assured of a place and get the girl’s preferred selection of furisode, there might be a lot of people who have already paid for 2019 and maybe even 2020.

Jan. 9, 2018
08:09 am JST

Employees at the shop in Fukuoka Prefecture showed up Monday and helped customers wear kimonos. A store employee said they have not been able to contact the company's president since the new year began but the store manager decided to open the shop.

Good for them. They realised the company has probably gone down, but did the right thing.

What a shame the employees of the other three didn't feel able to do the same, but their panic and indecisiveness is understandable.

Jan. 9, 2018
08:00 am JST

@ Jonathan Prin: Many kimono rental shops hold on to the kimonos and have the women come in on the morning of the ceremony to help them put them on and set their hair since it's difficult and time consuming.

Often, when the girls go in to pay and rent the kimonos they don't take them home since they can't put them on themselves anyway and its much more convenient to leave them there until the morning of the ceremony.

Unfortunately, for these girls they were jacked. Perhaps, the owner ran off the with money?